3x29: The Winding Road
The Saints of Emon gathered around to collect themselves as they searched through the treasure horde in the vault of a dead dragon. There they found vast riches and few artifacts which would help them finish their quest, including a gem that could unblock planar travel from inside Carceri. Hidden among the treasure was a githyanki corpse which they used magic to speak with, learning him to be the brother of Shoal. He claimed that the treasure was his, and Lupin pulled the severed head of his githyanki former captain from the bag of colding, and interrogated it under the same spell, learning that this treasure was a part of his quest to rejoin the Pirates of Gith. The group then found the statue with its outstretched hand, and placed the Amulet of Drassig in its grasp to open a portal to the many worlds in the plane of Carceri, or Tartarus, hoping to rescue their ally Tharion, Sovelis’ friend Keylith, and the rest of those trapped in that realm. ' ' Once in Tartarus, Sovelis used his gauntlet to create a tall tree so that they could return to this location if they needed to. There they met a petitioner and gained a map of their current floating planet. They learned that those who are stuck here in the afterlife have been sent here for telling many lies, and they learned to look out for the River Styx which flows through the top layer of the planet. On their way, Red accidentally dipped one finger in the river, trying to capture some of its water, and felt her memories slipping away from her. The group met a devil at the river, but flew over it, and then ran into an old, familiar face. Vannan, who had once been called Lugo the Revealer, who talked with them, having forgotten almost all of his life before death. ' ' The party then fought a few of the Demodand guards of the realm on their way to the next layer. Once there, they ran into two demons who they had met before, which had lied to them about the nature of the legendary sword of Graz'zt. Tannin, remembering their true names, called upon them to follow them, and they continued forward. ' ' In the next layer, they found many of the crystal spheres that they had seen before, the holding cells of Tartarus. While looking around, they were attacked by a floating octopus-like monstrosity with chests fastened to its back, which had been collecting valuables from those trapped here. It tried to take over their minds, and teleported Lupin into one of the almost-invincible crystal spheres where he found himself face to face with Tharion, their Topaz dragon friend. After it was slain, Sovelis used all the strength he could muster, calling upon his vestige to break open the sphere and let the two of them out. While they searched through the large chests on the creature’s back, they found a small golden box that contained a magical deck of cards. Having heard stories of such dangerous artifacts, they used caution, waiting until they ran into a Succubus who was wandering the wastes on this layer of Tartarus. She agreed to take a card in exchange for a kiss, which she gave to Holly. Upon drawing her card, she magically got the chance to undo the event that led to her being sent to Tartarus, and vanished from their plane of existence. Believing this to have the power to get them out of there, Red drew a card. However, this card brought to red a powerful magical weapon, one that had been wishing to be united with her since their first encounter, the legendary sword of Graz’zt himself. Red was compelled to use its power to dismay the others from taking it from her, and they continued to the next layer of this planet in Tartarus. ' ' On their way to Agathys, the frozen center of their current prison, the group saw two armies, one of demons and one of devils, about to engage in a battle. The two demonic allies of Tannin requested that they join the conflict, and the group let them go to fight for the chaos of the Abyss or whatever they desired. As they entered the icy interior of Agathys, they saw the survivors, a group of warriors they recognized as Vox Machina, fighting with a huge dracolich. They attempted to join in the fight but were cut off but a swarm of demodands. Iselda accidentally got too close to the leader, a gigantic fiend, and hit with a stray fireball, and in an effort to save her, Red called upon the power of the sword. While she was able to charm the largest of the demodands, the sword reached up through her mind and caused her to summon Graz’zt himself to Agathys. He appeared in front of all of them, calling out for Red, his daughter, to join him in the Abyss. They refused, and now, unrestricted by the divine gate, he fought the party, trying to take back his sword so he could finally ascend to the material plane. Iselda flew high above him, Holly and Tannin sent spells at him and Sovelis and Lupin ran to help their friend. The fight dragged on as he sent charms to each of them, trying to turn the party against each other, but through intense willpower, focus, and counterspells, they stayed strong. Finally, Graz’zt ripped the sword from his daughter’s hand and turned the huge demodand against them once more. He teleported away to one of the small crystal spheres nearby, pulling a wounded Red with him. Once inside, the two fought one-on-one for the final time. Red got some good hits on him, and she could tell he was almost defeated, but it was not enough and he cut her down with his sword. ' ' Red’s soul floated between life and death, and she was asked by her god if she wanted one more chance to take him out. She agreed, and Pelor sent her back in with a tiny amount of lended strength. She stood back up, landed two attacks, hit her father with a stunning strike, and sent a Sunbeam from the belt of Yos Varda into his face, exploding out of the crystal sphere. Graz’zt fell, defeated, his sword clattering to the ground. Red fell too, death finally catching up with her. ' ' The rest of the Saints found her body and tried to revivify her, but it didn’t work. Then, seeing that Vox Machina had defeated their foe, begged the heroes to help bring her back. The cleric of the group laid out a resurrection ritual, and asked for the Saints to help her bring Red back. Lupin and Holly called upon their friend to return, Sovelis created a bed of red flowers around her body, and Tannin conjured a small bar of fine Marquesian chocolate for her to smell. As the ritual concluded, Red returned to life, her soul brought back into her body. After picking themselves up, Sovelis and Keyleth traveled to the tree he had created on the first layer, and dipped the cursed sword in the River Styx, purging the curse that Graz’zt had put upon it. They all gathered around as the two groups used the crystal to plane-shift back to Emon. They threw a grand feast there, and learned that Brom Goldhand and the others in the Council of Tal’Dorei had ousted the remnants of the Veil in their absence and had established the council once again. The group eventually parted ways with Vox Machina, after being recognized as fellow heroes of Tal’Dorei, and traveled back to Kanko. While on Kanko, Iselda brought the group together and revealed her true form, telling them the importance of her secrecy, and revealing her true name. Ti. From there, they went in their own separate directions until they returned to see each other on the beach in one year’s time.